Maoist decision irks other parties

KATHMANDU, Jan 15: The Maoist decision to include the prime suspect accused in the murder of Ram Hari Shrestha in the party’s restructured central committee has outraged leaders of various other political parties.[break]

“This is the latest in a series of examples of how Maoists keep on breaching their commitments,” said Ishwar Pokharel, a leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), which is a partner to the Maoists in the coalition government. “They make commitments bowing down to mounting people’s pressure and never implement them.”

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Pokharel said the inclusion of Kali Bahadur Kham in the Maoist central committee proves Maoists are not serious about fulfilling their commitments.

Nepali Congress leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat was in a state of disbelief when myrepublica.com sought his quote on Kham’s induction into the Maoist committee. “If this is true, it is a strong mockery of the rule of law. It is not just an unfortunate situation,” said Dr. Mahat. “This is also an attack on the rule of law.

Ram Janam Choudhary of the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF), the third largest partner in the ruling coalition, termed the Maoist’s decision as “unfortunate”.

“We will raise the issue in the parliament as well as in the government,” said Choudhary.

Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who decided to merge his party CPN-Unity Center-Masal with the Maoist party, said he did not know about Kham’s inclusion in the committee until Maoist leaders shared with his party the list of central committee members at the time of public announcement of the party unification. “We are going to ask the Prime Minister (who is also the Maoist Chairman) about this,” said Shrestha. “We are not sure if the (arrest) warrant against Kham has been cleared.”